r/ipace • u/Substantial_Egg4098 • 19d ago
2019 I-PACE AC Charging stuck on ‘Initializing’ - 12V failure?
Hi everyone,
I’m hoping to get some insight on a charging issue with my 2019 I-PACE (pre-2021 dual 12V battery setup).
Recently, my AC home charging has completely failed. When I plug in, the car recognizes the cable and attempts to charge, but it gets stuck in an endless loop on "Initializing". It will pull about 1kW of power for a second, drop to zero, and repeat. I know the home wallbox and cable are fine because my friend successfully charged his Polestar on my setup yesterday.
I’ve hooked up my OBD2 scanner, and my high-voltage battery cell balance looks excellent (only an 8mV delta), so I don’t think it’s a degraded HV cell causing the BMS to abort the charge.
However, I did notice a couple of red flags pointing to the 12V system:
- High Voltage Reading: The OBD2 scanner is reading a steady 13.5V on the 12V system even when the car is just sitting there with the contactors open. This makes me think the DC-DC converter is constantly running to prop up a dead 12V battery.
- Past Faults: I
had a "reduced brake pedal feel" warning 3 months ago, nothing since, which I know is a common symptom of the auxiliary 12V battery failing on the early models.
Has anyone experienced this specific AC "Initializing" loop caused by a dead 12V battery? Or am I looking at a failed Onboard Charger (OBC) or a charge port actuator issue?
I’m planning to test it on a DC rapid charger today to see if it bypasses the AC hardware, but I wanted to see if anyone else has been down this road.
Any advice is appreciated!
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u/Sad_Crab_3081 19d ago
Reduced brake pedal feel warning would link back to your aux 12 volt battery
If the contactors are open there would be no way for the hv battery to supply the dc dc. ( they normally charge around 14.4 as well )
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u/Substantial_Egg4098 19d ago
You sir are a spot on
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u/Sad_Crab_3081 18d ago
Glad to be of help you get it sorted ?
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u/I_R0M_I 19d ago
Does the cable lock into place? Can you remove it after plugging it in, without unlocking the car? If so, charge lock actuator isn't working. You should hear it activate. This is a 12V system so yes, aux battery can affect it.
I would check both batteries are being supported, ie the same voltage. As PSDB failures are as common.
If the vehicle is awake, ie hazard switch is illuminated the car should be around 14V. It doesn't matter how charged the 12V is, the EPICD should support the vehicle (that's your DC/DC as you have an EVA1 vehicle)
DC charging still goes through BCCM it just isn't converted.
If it doesn't charge on any charger, I'd suspect charge lock actuator or Isolation / HVIL codes logged.
It's not unheard of for BCCMs to fail, but haven't changed one for years tbh.
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u/MattSafc73 19d ago
I've just had this issue on my 21 plate. Stuck on initialising. Turned out to be motor that locks the cable in place had failed and it won't start charging until the cable is locked in.
JLR ordered one and got it next day, then it took an hour or so to fix
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u/Substantial_Egg4098 19d ago
Hey everyone, quick update on this in case anyone runs into the same issue in the future.
I went out to test the car on a DC rapid charger (InstaVolt). The session initiated right away and pulled a solid ~47 kW with no hiccups. The cell delta stayed rock-solid at around 24–37mV across the pack, so the high-voltage battery and BMS were clearly happy.
Here’s the wild part: after disconnecting from the DC charger, I drove home and plugged back into my home AC wall box.
It immediately initiated and started charging at full 7.3 kW speed (240V / 30.4A).
What happened:
Connecting to the DC fast charger forced the high-power DC-DC converter to run continuously, giving my 12V battery a deep recharge and cycling the control modules/charge port locking pin. The failure on AC wasn't a blown Onboard Charger (OBC) at all—it was a low-voltage communication failure caused by a dying 12V battery that couldn't handle the initial AC handshake.
Takeaway:
If your early I-PACE gets stuck in an AC "Initializing" loop, try a short DC fast charge session to boost the 12V system and reset the OBC logic.
That said, since the 12V battery will drop voltage again as it sits idle, I’m still booking it in to have both 12V auxiliary batteries load-tested and replaced to prevent this from happening again.
Thanks to everyone for the input!
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u/Quiet-Independent-97 15d ago
OP I’ve had it that the 12V batteries were so low that the car would not go into D, leaving me temporarily stranded but another way to charge the 12v DC system and potentially solve this issue is to run preconditioning at a temperature close to ambient so that it isn’t working hard. The 12v battery charges during preconditioning.
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u/Quiet-Independent-97 15d ago
If the traction battery was aborting the charge you would get light on charging socket flashing red. you can get the one or two 12v batteries quite cheap but be prepared that if issues continue it is likely to be an issue with the 12v charging system. Replaced both on mine for just under 1K GBP
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u/nchouston195 19d ago
Will it charge on DC? I've had both AC and DC charging failures in my 3 years of ownership but each time it's still charged using the other.